: One of the best fighting games on the market today. Enough said.

While I have enjoyed many fighting games in my time, I have never been happier playing one than with P4A; The ultimate fulfillment of fun will be achieved by those who are fans of both the Persona series and fighting games.

: Story-mode appeals only to the most hardcore Persona or RPG fans and even then it could use more player-controlled fight sequences and less repetition.

You have to hand it to Atlus. Originally released on the PS2 , Persona 4's critical acclaim in both the East and West quickly gave rise to a slew of marketing spin-offs, including an anime series and movie, mangas and novels, and even a live stage performance in Japan.

All in all, Persona 4: Arena is a fantastic fighting game as well as a heaping dose of Persona fan service that can appeal to a broad range of gamers. You don't have to be a Persona die-hard to enjoy it. Fans of the Persona RPGs will enjoy the story full of characters they already know and love.

Persona is probably the longest running and consistently good JRPG series out there. The last two titles have done an increasingly great job of blending dungeon crawling and grinding with the everyday life of a Japanese high school student.

When the name Shin Megami Tensei is mentioned, two responses usually crop up: "Oh, I love those games! But they're so long..." or "Huh?". For those of you in the latter category, some background might be needed. The rest of you can jump ahead.

Great fighting mechanics; intriguing story

Story is confusing if you don't know the Persona games; controls have a very steep learning curve

A well-made integration of Persona 4 mechanics and characters into a delightfully complex fighting system.

Excellent visuals; Arc System fans will feel right at home; new, canonical Persona storyline; complex fighting system that incorporates personae

A little daunting for beginners; no easy-to-reference combo list; story mode is more visual novel than fighting game

This fighting game delivers all the fan service Persona fans can handle. Read our full review.

+ Simple concept with complex structures; + Amazing fan service; + Terrific story and acting; + Online works and works very well; + Accessible for new players

The story mode may not be for everyone; Matchmaking is off at times

The first time I played Guilty Gear X, I was simply blown away. Though I'd played many 2D fighters before, nothing had prepared me for Arc System Works' style of blistering fast gameplay, the lineup of stylish anime-style characters all bouncing around the screen at mach 5, stringing together insane...

Thus, Persona 4 Arena is a standout game; it marries theme and mechanics closely, and through its apparent simplicity allows a total novice to enjoy it all while layering on levels of strategy for advanced play based on positioning and timing rather than specific dexterity at inputting attacks.

best venture from Persona universe - involves both P3 & P4 antagonists - storyline complex enough that overlap is intriguing and not expectedly boring...

strong story & graphics

required to see text (even on rapid auto read